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Duke University removes statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee

Jessica Durando, USA TODAY Published 9:22 a.m. ET Aug. 19, 2017 | Updated 11:01 a.m. ET Aug. 19, 2017
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/08/19/duke-university-removes-statue-confederate-gen-robert-e-lee/582872001/

Duke University on Saturday removed a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, days after the carved limestone likeness was vandalized amid a heightened debate in the U.S. about Confederate monuments.

The university said it removed the statue in the early morning from Duke Chapel where it stood among 10 historical figures in the entryway. Another statue of Lee was at the center of a fatal protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, last week.

University president Vincent Price said in a letter that he conferred with members of the campus community, including faculty, staff, students and alumni, to make the decision. Officials had found early Thursday that Lee's face had been deliberately damaged.

“I took this course of action to protect Duke Chapel, to ensure the vital safety of students and community members who worship there, and above all to express the deep and abiding values of our university,” Price said in the letter.

Related: When a bronze Confederate needed to retire, University of Texas found a home

More: Counter-protesters rally against potential KKK march in Durham, North Carolina

America: 'Confederate infrastructure' too big to hide, move or raze

Price said the statue's removal presents "an opportunity for us to learn and heal. The statue will be preserved so that students can study Duke’s complex past and take part in a more inclusive future."

City officials and police in Durham, North Carolina, said they faced hundreds of counter-protesters Friday afternoon who had gathered against what they thought could have been a Ku Klux Klan march.

The counter-protesters burned confederate and white supremacist flags and held an impromptu dance off. They carried signs that said "We will not be intimidated," "History will not repeat" and "Black Lives Matter."

Other statues in North Carolina have been damaged since the Charlottesville protest.

Earlier this week, a video of protesters toppling a statue in Durham went viral. Protesters put a rope around the statue’s neck, toppled the monument and began kicking it. The defacement was part of a rally in solidarity with Charlottesville, according to protesters. Eight were arrested by the Durham County Sheriff's office.

More than 700 Confederate statues and monuments exist in 31 states. That does not include things like homesteads and museums, according to The Southern Poverty Law Center.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/08/19/duke-university-removes-statue-confederate-gen-robert-e-lee/582872001/